


Don't Fence Me In

by JustAndrea



Category: Wander Over Yonder
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-30
Updated: 2016-09-30
Packaged: 2018-08-18 16:00:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8167733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustAndrea/pseuds/JustAndrea
Summary: He couldn’t help but wonder… Were friends allowed to send bounty hunters after each other when there was no other way to contact them? Or, was that considered inappropriate in some way? A brief look into Major Threat’s life after quitting his role as an evil, galactic conqueror - but, more importantly, his life after Tumbleweed.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Major Threat/Jeff is one of my favorite WoY characters, not to mention a super interesting one. So, just consider this to be my take on how he might have been before he got used to being on the Right Path and being good, i.e. how we see him in ‘The Good Bad Guy’. Anyway, enjoy!

The universe was such a simple place before. It had simply been one massive object that was his for the taking. He didn’t think about the individuals, or even the people as a whole. He just thought about the planets, and how great it would feel to own them and keep them, or perhaps even crush them for fun, whatever he was in the mood for that day. But a lot had changed since then.

Yes, the universe was no longer simple. It was no longer an object. It was filled with people and things and choices. It was more complicated, yet in a way, it was also brighter. Though, that still didn’t make the complicated side of it any less frustrating…

“Computer?” he asked, pressing a button on the side of his throne.

 _“Yes, Major Threat?”_ He frowned a bit. Right, he still had to remember to edit and update the ship’s memory sometime. But for now, he wouldn’t try to correct something that was programmed in.

“Any messages from that bounty hunter?” _“There are zero new messages in your inbox, Major,”_ it told him bluntly, _“Would you like to create a new message?”_

“…Nah,” Jeff shook his head as he stood up, “Thanks though.” He felt a small ‘heh’ in his throat, still thinking it was a bit strange to thank a computer. But after Jeff had heard it done so many times before (by a certain hairy weirdo), he started just doing it absentmindedly. It was dumb, in a way, but it was dumbness with a point.

The green-skinned alien held his hands behind his back as he strolled through the dark halls of his ship. The occasional droid would roll by, otherwise he was completely alone with his thoughts. He couldn’t help but wonder… Were friends allowed to send bounty hunters after each other when there was no other way to contact them? Or, was that considered inappropriate in some way?

How many days since he’d hired that Zbornak? Fourteen, sixteen, twenty? Somewhere around there, and still no word back from her. Maybe that’s what he got for hiring someone from outside of his own galaxy, or maybe the bounty he gave her was just too quick and tricky to catch and she just gave up. Or maybe she had just decided to take half her pay and run, not willing to trust an old villain. That was certainly a possibility as well…

The ex-warlord sighed, the gem on his forehead humming slightly as it started to glow while questions flew around in his mind. He tried to silence them though, taking a deep breath and remembering the meditation techniques he had been taught. Sure enough, the glow faded, and the humming was gone. That was better. After all, there was no need for a temper tantrum, though part of him did think he had the right to be upset, at least a little. “I mean, who just disappears like that?”

How long had they chased each other? A couple of years, at least. Probably longer. And during that time, Tumbleweed always had a way of finding him, sometimes even being on a planet before he was. A giant coincidence perhaps, or maybe even a giant joke courtesy of the universe. Even after they became friends, he would still run into Tumbleweed - or Tumbleweed would run into him - once every couple of months, at least. Sometimes it was several times a month, and other times Jeff would go almost three months without seeing him, making him wonder if the little furball had finally decided to leave him alone. It was usually a couple of days - sometimes mere hours or even minutes - after he thought that when Tumbleweed would show up once again.

This time, it had been seven months since the last time he saw the interplanetary nomad.

“Guess it’s pretty ironic, huh, old man?” he asked himself, “When you finally want him to show up, that’s when you can’t find him.”

But why would he just disappear like that? That was the question Jeff kept asking himself, despite most likely knowing the answer already - Why else would he had hired a bounty hunter that lived and searched in a different galaxy? He had remembered Tumbleweed talking about planets he had only barely heard of, constellations that he had never heard of before talking to a certain stranger or reading a certain book, adventures that the nomad couldn’t wait to have…

An alarm jolted Jeff out of his thoughts. Something about the trash furnace being blocked again. Closing his eyes, he focused his psychokinetic powers - the blueprints of his ship had long since been memorized - and removed the blockage, turning the alarm off. He would really have to get that thing fixed one day. Or maybe he could just sell the old thing and go around in an orbubble.

_“It’s much faster than you think! Plus, you get a beautiful view everywhere you look~!”_

_“Heh, thanks but no thanks, man. I’m pretty sure I’m too used to living in a ship to give it up.”_

_“Aw, alright then. Suit yourself!”_

The old alien shook his head, smiling a bit once more. No doubt about it, Tumbleweed was a strange one. But, as he had eventually learned, strange didn’t necessarily mean bad or annoying. In fact, it could be one of the best things the universe had to offer. But being naturally strange like Tumbleweed was one thing - the way he would focus on the most minor of problems and act like he needed to solve them at all costs, or the way he would always be nice, or even the way he always somehow managed to bring the once-villainous major into his fun, no matter how much he tried to resist or ignore it.

It was a gift to naturally be able to do and be all those wonderfully strange things. But to learn how to do them yourself, well, that was a different challenge entirely. Not only that, but it was one filled with questions that Jeff couldn’t ask, hence why he wanted to find Tumbleweed so badly.

He paused. “…Well, one of the reasons, anyways…”

_“How do you always know what to do?”_

_“Hm? What do you mean?”_

_“You know what I mean, man! Just-!” His voice had dropped an octave, sounding more like a growl before he adjusted it. He really had to work on remembering not to do his ‘villain voice’. “…How do you always know how to help people, or how to be a better person? Like, how are you able to just, just take insults and still want to help a person - and a total stranger, at that! Or be able to do the right thing, or help someone even when it’s easier to just move on? How… How do you be good, Tumbleweed?”_

_“…Well, I suppose some of it is experience. Ya tend to run into those ‘universal problems’ pretty often, you know? And sometimes it’s natural - common sense, you know? Treat folks how you wanna be treated and that sort of thing. And sometimes it’s all you, where you just wanna help or you wanna do somethin’ nice._ _…But, yeah, I can admit that it ain’t easy sometimes, but that just sorta makes it all the more worth it, ya know?”_

_“…Yeah, I guess. Just wish it came easier, you know?” It was easy to hate and hurt, especially after you made a mistake. “What if I do make mistakes? Or you know… Fall back on old habits? Man, what… What if I can’t be a good guy?”_

_The second after he finished his sentence, he felt a pair of thin, warm arms wrapped around his waist. “…You know, there’s a difference between bein’ a good guy and bein’ a good person. Ya don’t have to change your life or your personality completely in order to be good, and you don’t have to be perfect either. You just gotta be the you I know you can be, alright? Be good in your own Major Threat way!”_

_He rolled his eyes, despite a small smile now on his face. “Easy for you to say.”_

_“Heh, yep! Because I can see good deep down in that ol’ heart of yours, Jeff ol’ boy!”_

Jeff chuckled. And to think, he used to think that someone thinking he was ‘good’ was enough to be considered an insult. Now, even if it was difficult at times, good really wasn’t such a bad thing to be.

The cold, metal doors slid open, revealing a giant bed with royal purple bedding and a framed map of his galaxy (with X’s crossed through several already-conquered planets) hanging above it. He would have to remember to replace that sometime, as well. But for now, he decided to pass on his bed and instead plopped down into a much more humble (yet still very comfortable) bean bag chair that he had picked up at some thrift store. …Well, stole, but he’d since paid the owner back for it. And the broken windows. And the stolen gold that he had already melted down.

The alien frowned once more. Was all of this - how he was living, how he was making it up to one planet at a time - really enough? Was he doing enough to be good? Was he still on the right path? He really wanted to be, and it seemed like it was enough at times, but didn’t at others.

_“Aww! You just gotta trust yourself, Threat. Believe that if you’re doin’ anything really wrong, you’ll figure it out eventually. Heh, even if you may not think it sometimes, you’re really not such a bad guy. And I know you’ll know what to do!”_

And maybe he did… But he still wanted some confirmation, or a quick comment of praise, or a hug, or even just a smile. Tumbleweed always had the most comforting smiles, the kind that made a person feel like everything would be okay eventually. The kind that was full of wisdom, but also full of love and warmth. And sometimes, it was just made of pure happiness.

That’s what a person like Tumbleweed deserved, right? To be happy, and to do what he loved? “Of course he does,” Jeff told himself. After all he did for him, he certainly deserved it. And, if doing what he loved meant that he couldn’t visit him, that he wouldn’t run into him anymore, that Jeff would have to deal with missing him, that he would let him go wandering Glorn knows where and they would have to say goodbye…

“…Well, then so be it.” It would be hard, but so be it. Besides, the universe might have been big, but maybe - _hopefully_ one day, they would end up running into each other one more time. And when that day came, Jeff would make sure to have plenty of good news and memories to share with him. Until then, he would just remember his advice and his smiles, and try to make him proud. Try to keep on the right path. Try to make _himself_ happy, just like he knew he could be - and this time, it wasn’t just a hollow thought.

Unable to sit in silence for much longer, Jeff let his gem glow once more, and used his powers to open his closet. He took out a banjo, and brought it towards him until it was close enough for him to grasp. He instinctively strummed two or three at a time, not really having any melody, but just listening to the sound. After a few more strums, he placed his fingers on the proper spots, and started to play a light melody. He made up the notes as he went along, and he was one hundred percent certain that Tumbleweed could’ve played a better song, but he decided that his was still enjoyable enough - that it was still good.

_“This thing sure is different from my bass.”_

_“Heh, definitely. But a banjo’s a bit easier to play ditties on. And as much as I love those deep notes that you play, I sorta enjoy the light notes of a banjo, you know?”_

_“…Yeah, I guess it’s alright.” Almost as relaxing as playing the bass, though still something he would need to get used to._

_“Heh, you want me to teach you that song I heard on Nafluna now, Threat?”_

_“…Jeff.”_

_“Hm?” “I, well… I just thought, I would try to start going by my old name again.” He was looking away as he said this, but he could still sense his friend’s smile after a few moments._

_“Well then, Jeff, are you ready to play?” “…Heh, yeah, man. Let’s play.” “You got it!”_

The old, ex-villain gave a relaxed sigh as he finished up his song, and for the first time in a long while, the smile on his face wasn’t just one of pleasure or relaxation, but of content.

“Yep,” he said quietly, the ending notes still echoing a bit in his mind, “Still good.” 

**THE END**


End file.
